Riders Rally

Riders Rally

Riders Rally

– Jim McGrath

It all began in 1974 where the origins of the Riders Rally lay in the competitiveness of the club members. If you raced a bike, you went out to win, but if you rode on the road, you still had that competitive spirit, but nothing to pit your riding skills against. So it was decided among a group of members that they would challenge each other to see who could ride the furthest over two days.

This was long before the "Iron Butt" was heard of.

To organise an event, and make it interesting, it was decided to have a starting point, from where a rider would ride to a check point. Here he would check in, get his card stamped to prove he went through that point. He would then be given his next destination. There would be a distance of approximately 160km between each check point, with several of them before reaching their destination for the night. They would camp overnight and up next morning to repeat the same task.

In 1974 the first event started in Athlone and finished in Blessington, Co.Wicklow. It was mostly run on main roads. 40 year ago the road network was nothing like it is today. There were no motorways, and all main roads went through major town's and cities, but to day it is run mostly on R roads with towns and cities avoided.

As this event was specially for road riders, it was given the name "Riders Rally". since 1974 it has been supported by a dedicated group of motorcyclists. 2018 Event will take place on the weekend of the 22nd to 24th June 2018.

About DMTC

The Dublin Motorcycle Touring Club was founded in 1971 and are the largest multi-make motorcycle club in Ireland. The club organizes other ride-outs and over-nights throughout the year and welcomes new members at anytime.